Republicans need a reasonable hero for 2016

Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida has kept a high public profile in recent months. His family has even weighed in on a possible run.

Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida has kept a high public profile in recent months. His family has even weighed in on a possible run. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images)

Rex W. Huppke

President Barack Obama's favorability ratings are low, Iraq is collapsing, there's a humanitarian crisis brewing on our border with Mexico and Hillary Clinton is making tone-deaf comments about her personal wealth.

It's an opportune time for the Republican Party to hop into the spotlight and, with an eye toward the 2016 presidential race, promote itself as a sensible alternative.

Instead, here's what some of the GOP presidential contenders have been up to:

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, speaking at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference on Saturday night, said he can "sense right now a rebellion brewing amongst these United States," and suggested that Americans are "ready for a hostile takeover of Washington, D.C."

Yay! Sedition!

At the March for Marriage in Washington last week, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee compared the fight to prevent the legalization of same-sex marriages with the fight against the Nazis in Germany. At the same event, former Sen. Rick Santorum twisted himself into a knot of illogic by arguing that allowing gay and lesbian people to marry will hurt the economy — because there will be fewer marriages.

And at a recent speech in San Francisco, Texas Gov. Rick Perry compared homosexuality to alcoholism, a comment that came fresh off the Texas GOP adopting the debunked practice of "gay conversion therapy" as part of its party platform.

Add in an unwillingness to tackle immigration reform, a penchant for tossing about the term "illegals," full-throated denial of climate change and an array of policies that would cut services for the poor and you have a party narrowing its target demographic down to a white, wealthy, heterosexual 69-year-old Oklahoman named Phil.

It's a political party that's going to clean up in the midterm elections — when Democratic turnout tends to drop and gerrymandered districts ensure success — and then get steamrolled in the 2016 presidential election.

But it doesn't have to be that way. Not if a reasonable Republican can find the gumption to stand up against the loud fringes of the GOP base and talk some sense.

The thinking seems to be that any hint of moderation is a death knell for a Republican politician. Many blamed Rep. Eric Cantor's recent primary defeat at the hands of an underfunded tea party candidate on the former House majority leader's mere flirtation with the idea of immigration reform.

But consider these numbers from a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll:

•Asked whether immigration hurts the United States, 68 percent of tea party Republicans said yes but only 47 percent of non-tea party Republicans agreed.

•Asked about a proposal that would require companies to reduce greenhouse gases even if it led to higher energy costs, 74 percent of tea party Republicans rejected the idea, but 50 percent of non-tea party Republicans expressed support.

For Americans overall, the figures are even more in favor of immigration and a reduction of greenhouse gases. There's a clear schism not just between the far right and the rest of America but between the far right and more traditional Republicans.

On same-sex marriage, according to polling by the Pew Research Center, more than half of Americans favor allowing gay and lesbian people to wed. And among people under 30 who say they're either Republican or lean Republican, 61 percent favor legalizing same-sex marriage while only 35 percent are opposed.

These are not isolated data points. Polls over the past few years have consistently highlighted this disconnect between majority American viewpoints and the more rabid banter coming from Republican politicians and talking heads. That may be why Americans still view Democrats more positively than Republicans by 9 percentage points, according to the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

So the big question is this: Who on the GOP side is going to have the good sense to couch conservative ideas in language that is more conciliatory and in tune with the times?

This isn't about abandoning principles, it's about not comparing those you disagree with to Nazis. It's about toning down the seditious rhetoric and recognizing that the country's demographics have changed and that, if you wish to represent all Americans, change must be embraced, or at least thoughtfully acknowledged.

Some Republicans are eyeing former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush as a presidential candidate whose support for immigration reform could appeal to the country's growing Latino population. But Bush has to know that, if he runs, certain members of his own party will use that stance on immigration against him, mercilessly.

That would give anyone pause.

The 2016 race — coming off the tumult and division of Obama's two terms — will be a prime time for Republicans to reassert themselves as a viable national party.

But first someone is going to have to stand up and communicate pragmatic Republican policies over the loopy din of those who've come to view reasonableness as a disqualification.